Elsevier LaTeX Template: elsarticle Setup and Options

The Elsevier LaTeX template is the elsarticle document class, Elsevier’s own LaTeX class for journal manuscripts. CTAN describes it as accepted for submitted articles both in Elsevier’s electronic submission system and elsewhere. This guide is for authors who have a manuscript to prepare and need to know where to get the class, which of the three bundled templates to start from, and what each class option does. It covers the searches “elsevier template”, “elsevier template latex”, “latex elsevier template” and “latex template elsevier” in one place.

What the Elsevier LaTeX template is used for in research

The package, elsarticle, replaces the older elsart.cls. It was written by STM Document Engineering Pvt Ltd for Elsevier, is based on the standard article.cls, and uses natbib for citations. It is released under the LaTeX Project Public License 1.3. The version on CTAN when checked on 2026-11-08 is 3.5, released 2026-01-09.

It produces a preprint-style manuscript suitable for submission to Elsevier journals. Its other layout options approximate the look of Elsevier’s final single-column and two-column journal formats, but the class documentation states the options do not emulate the exact final layout. A journal’s own Guide for Authors overrides any template default, so read it before you format.

Get the template from the official source

Download the package from CTAN (elsarticle); Elsevier’s documentation also points to its LaTeX page at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/latex. The package contains:

• elsarticle.dtx and elsarticle.ins (the source from which the class file is generated)
• elsdoc.pdf (the user documentation)
• Three templates: elsarticle-template-num.tex (numeric citations), elsarticle-template-harv.tex (author-year citations) and elsarticle-template-num-names.tex (numeric citations that show names, such as “Jones et al. [21]”)
• Three matching BibTeX styles: elsarticle-num.bst, elsarticle-harv.bst and elsarticle-num-names.bst

Step-by-step setup

1. Download elsarticle.dtx and elsarticle.ins from CTAN, or the full package.
2. Run latex elsarticle.ins. This extracts elsarticle.cls.
3. Place elsarticle.cls either in the folder of your manuscript or in $TEXMF/tex/latex/elsevier/. If you use the second location, refresh the file database with mktexlsr or texhash.
4. Copy the template that matches your citation style (see the table below) and its .bst file into your manuscript folder.
5. Start the document with documentclass[<options>]{elsarticle}.
6. Fill in the front matter: title{...}, author[1]{Name}, affiliation[1]{organization={...}, addressline={...}, ...}, and a keyword environment with keywords separated by sep. Mark a corresponding author with corref{cor1} and cortext[cor1]{Corresponding author}, and add an address with ead{...}. For the role itself, see corresponding author.
7. If the journal asks for them, add a graphicalabstract environment and a highlights environment (with item entries).
8. Compile with your usual LaTeX and BibTeX sequence.

Which of the three templates to start from

Template file	Bibliography style	Citation commands
elsarticle-template-num.tex	elsarticle-num.bst	cite{label}, numbered
elsarticle-template-harv.tex	elsarticle-harv.bst	citep and citet, author-year (uses the authoryear class option)
elsarticle-template-num-names.tex	elsarticle-num-names.bst	Numbered, with names shown, for example “Jones et al. [21]”

The documentation also lists ten journal-specific .bst files, with instructions at support.stmdocs.in. For how .bst files and bibliography styles work in general, see LaTeX bibliography styles explained.

Class options and when to use each

These options come from the elsarticle documentation, version 3.5. All options of article.cls also work. Defaults are a4paper, 10pt, oneside, onecolumn and preprint.

Option	What it does
preprint	Default. For submission to Elsevier journals.
review	Like preprint with a larger baseline skip, for review copies.
1p	Looks like Elsevier “model 1+” journals; single column.
3p	Looks like “model 3+” journals; add twocolumn for two-column journals.
5p	Looks like “model 5+” journals; always two column.
authoryear	Author-year citations through natbib; extra natbib options go in biboptions{longnamesfirst,angle,semicolon}.
number	Numeric citations.
sort&compress	Sorts and compresses numeric citations, for example [1,2,3] becomes [1-3].
doubleblind	Hides author names, affiliations and email addresses.
times	Loads the txfonts package.
longtitle, lefttitle, centertitle, reversenotenum, endfloat, nonatbib	Further layout and bibliography controls described in elsdoc.pdf.

For the final print layouts the documentation gives text areas of 384pt by 562pt (13.5 by 19.75 cm) for 1p and 468pt by 622pt (16.45 by 21.9 cm) for single-column 3p.

Output and how to read it

With the default preprint option you get a single-column manuscript with title block, author affiliations, abstract, keywords and numbered or author-year references, ready for upload. Switch to 1p, 3p or 5p only to preview roughly how the article will look in the journal’s format. Check the title block against the journal’s guide: corresponding-author marks, footnotes and the doubleblind setting all change what appears there. For general journal formatting, see manuscript format for journal submission.

Troubleshooting

• “File elsarticle.cls not found.” The class has not been generated or is not on the TeX search path. Run latex elsarticle.ins, place the resulting file in your manuscript folder or in $TEXMF/tex/latex/elsevier/, and run mktexlsr or texhash.
• Citations appear as numbers when you wanted author-year, or the reverse. Use the matching template, class option and .bst file together (see the table above). The numbered scheme uses cite; author-year uses citep and citet with authoryear.
• A suspected bug in the class. The package README directs bug reports to Elsevier at [email protected].

Free alternatives and related templates

Need	Option
Same class without a local setup	Use an online LaTeX editor; see what Overleaf is.
Springer computer-science proceedings	LNCS template
American Physical Society journals	REVTeX

FAQ

Is there an Elsevier template for LaTeX?

Yes. The elsarticle class on CTAN is Elsevier’s LaTeX class, with three ready-made templates and matching bibliography styles.

Does elsarticle work outside Elsevier journals?

CTAN describes it as accepted for submitted articles both in Elsevier’s electronic submission system and elsewhere.

Which template do I use for numbered references?

Start from elsarticle-template-num.tex with elsarticle-num.bst. For author-year use the harv pair.

How do I submit a double-blind manuscript?

Use the doubleblind class option, which hides author name, affiliation and email. Confirm the journal’s requirements in its Guide for Authors.

Sources

• CTAN, elsarticle package page (version 3.5, 2026-01-09), read 2026-11-08.
• CTAN, elsarticle documentation (elsdoc.pdf), version 3.5, read 2026-11-08.
• CTAN, elsarticle README, read 2026-11-08.